by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

SAN ANTONIO - It made perfect sense that the San Antonio Spurs could be in trouble in their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

They were barely worthy of being a playoff team down the stretch of the regular season, which means they may as well have been, well, the Lakers. They were vulnerable, ailing, on the decline, ripe for the sort of first-round upset that the Lakers said they were capable of as they found a way to survive without Kobe Bryant and surged into the postseason after all these tumultuous months.

Or, perhaps, not.

The Spurs took a 1-0 series lead with a familiar formula, as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili did what they've done for 11 years now in a 91-79 win at a raucous AT&T Center. The trio totaled 54 points in a dominating opener for the Spurs, who led by double digits in the first quarter and had all but wrapped the game up by the time the fourth rolled around.

The Lakers shot just 41.1% overall and hit just 3 of 15 three-pointers (20%) while giving up twice as many turnovers (18) as they forced (eight).

"I thought tonight was the best defense we've played in three or four weeks," Popovich said. "It came at a good time."

In this oldie-but-goodie series in which one never knows what to expect from the respective elderly, Ginobili was every bit the energizer coming off an injury as he has been throughout his wondrous career. Despite being rusty because of the nine games he recently missed with a right hamstring problem, and despite having his playing time limited as a result, Ginobili ensured the Lakers wouldn't escape with the sort of upset that could have changed everything in a series like this one in which - because of the unique circumstances on both sides - confidence and momentum could matter even more than the norm.

Ginobili's best work came late in the third quarter, when two free throws from Antawn Jamison cut the Spurs' lead to seven points. Ginobili hit a runner over Pau Gasol in the lane, then buried a three from atop the key. Last but certainly not least, his three in transition from the right-wing after a Steve Blake turnover had sparked the fastbreak was vintage Manu, putting the Spurs up 70-57 entering the fourth quarter. In all, 10 of Ginobili's 18 points came in the third.

"He is a huge key with what we do," said Parker, who had 18 points on 8 of 21 shooting to go with eight assists and just two turnovers. "He has been here a long time and really knows our system and tonight he made some timely threes and was our energy off the bench...We are going to need that if we want to go far in the playoffs."

The Lakers were awful offensively, shooting 41.1% despite the addition of one of the game's most effective offensive players of all-time, Steve Nash. The point guard who missed the last eight games of the regular season with hamstring, back and hip problems had 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting in his start. The Lakers' vaunted post attack that was supposed to be their strength in light of Bryant's season-ending Achilles tendon tear was hardly impressive, though Howard had 20 points and 15 rebounds while Gasol had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

"We can't get discouraged because we lost the first game," said Howard, who had just six second-half points. "San Antonio did what they were supposed to do tonight, but we've just got to come in the second game."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich may have been the one complaining that his team was "discombobulated" before tipoff, but the Lakers were the ones looking out of sorts at the start en route to trailing 45-37 at halftime.

Nash was the first to score, coming off a high screen and hitting a jumper in the lane for the early 2-0 lead. But it was all chaos and clunkers from there, with the Lakers missing 19 of their first 27 shots while taking the curious tact of playing the opposite style that so many expected - outside-in rather than inside-out.

It surely wasn't by design that it was almost all jumpers early on, especially considering their twin towers of Howard and Gasol are unlike any other in the league and the absence of Bryant means they should be free to play their respective games. But it was the most significant reason they trailed 28-16 a little more than 12 minutes into the game.

The steady Spurs were led by - who else? - sir Tim Duncan (13 of his 17 points in the first half), while the mystery of Howard's offensive game was on full display in the first half. The Lakers big man who remains unrefined in that realm was clearly uncomfortable early on, and it spoke volumes about his start that a left-elbow jumper was his only make in his first five tries. Eventually, though, he found his way to a phone booth and flashed a few 'Superman' moments that surely kept a few thousand viewers at home from changing the channel.

It looks sometimes as if Howard must reach his lowest low during any given game before he decides that the puzzling play must stop. That play came 90 seconds into the second quarter and with the Spurs already up 12 points - a post catch some 12 feet away from the basket, in a territory not typically occupied by someone with his skill set, followed by a puzzling push of the Spurs' Matt Bonner that took place after Howard had passed out and drew an offensive foul call that did nothing for his team's momentum (or lack thereof).

But he took a different tact from there. A deliberate and confident fake-right-spin-left basket off the glass that cut the lead to eight. An alley-oop dunk from Gasol in which he reached behind his head for the slam that cut the lead to four. A layup that cut the lead to four again early in the second quarter. Another alley-oop from Metta World Peace, followed by a drive past Duncan later and the layup. Howard had 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half, but the Spurs were hardly fazed.

A Kawhi Leonard three-pointer and Bonner layup over Howard's outstretched hand had stymied the Lakers' first run, putting the Spurs up 35-26 after their disheveled foes had come on strong. It happened again late in the second quarter, when a Gasol turnover sparked the break and led to a three-point play for Ginobili that pushed the lead to 10. It was just the kind of five-point turnaround the Lakers could ill afford.

"It was a good start to our playoff run," said Duncan, who had 17 points on six of 15 shooting to go with 10 rebounds. "We shook off a lot of cobwebs we've had over the past 10 games or so. I was great to have everybody back out there together. It was a good start overall."